forfeiter
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for·feit
(fôr′fĭt)tr.v. for·feit·ed, for·feit·ing, for·feits
1. To lose or give up (something) on account of an offense, error, or failure to fulfill an agreement: The other team did not show up in time and so forfeited the game.
2. To subject to seizure as a forfeit.
n.
1. Something that is lost or given up on account of an offense, error, or failure to fulfill an agreement.
2. The act of forfeiting: The team lost the game by forfeit.
3.
a. In parlor games, an item placed in escrow and redeemed by paying a fine or performing an appointed task.
b. forfeits A game in which forfeits are demanded.
adj.
Lost or subject to loss through forfeiture.
[Middle English forfet, crime, penalty, from Old French forfait, past participle of forfaire, to commit a crime, act outside the law : fors-, beyond; see foreclose + faire, to do; see feasible.]
for′feit·a·ble adj.
for′feit·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.